EVENTS

Romeo And Juliet, 2009

The BBC tells us that the story was buried deep within the pages of Indian newspapers

Two star-crossed lovers committed suicide after the local village council, or panchayat, ordered them to annul their marriage or face death.Amreen was Muslim and her husband, Lokesh, a Hindu. Their match was simply unacceptable to their communities. The couple poisoned themselves.

The only really surprising part, to my thinking, was this:

Now police have charged the entire panchayat with abetting suicide.

Damn, I hope it sticks.

Read the whole BBC story (the link above); this young couple should not die without the world knowing.

Two households, alike save for beliefIn fair Phaphunda, where our scene is set,Where Hindu-Muslim tensions lead to griefAnd faiths, in conflict, evil will abet.Amreen, a Muslim, and her love Lokesh,A Hindu man who loved her more than life;Two faiths the village elders would not mesh,Though legally the two were man and wife.They fell in love because the two would meetWhere Amreen’s father sold the family’s milk;The panchayat—the governing elite—Decreed they could not sully ilk with ilk.The Hindu man and lovely Muslim brideChose poison over panchayat… and died.

But hey, religion is a good thing, and it’s important that people believe, isn’t it? Seriously, what could go wrong?